Believe
by MidnightSakuraBlossom and SYD
Summary: Carter didn't once doubt the Harvest Goddess' existence...until a certain blond-haired girl entered the church and put his faith to the test. "This 'goddess' you're talking about sounds kind of like a myth..."


**A/N: I know that I should be updating some more stories. But uhhhh...I haven't written a Harvest Moon story in a little while. I feel somewhat rusty with portraying the characters because of that.**

**I hope you like this story anyway. I didn't really have a reason to write it, but this short little idea came to mind when I was going through some boxes and found my old game of Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. It's actually been a while since I've played the game to be honest. And I then proceeded to play it for a little bit from one of my saves. This has NO relation to the topic, but I played from the 12th day of winter and made it into my 14th year; married to Cliff. :) Soooo...ANYWAY...I took a visit to the church and talked with Carter, whom was one of my friends in the game. And after talking, I recalled from memory, Cliff's first heart event. *Sighs at how I'm really beating around the bush* Ahh...anyways, so the idea came from that. But don't ask how that was even possible.**

**This story takes place in More Friends of Mineral Town. There's really no pairings per se, but a tad bit of CarterxClaire and PopurixKai. The theme of the story is: it's kind of a "what if?" situation. What if...Claire doesn't know anything about the Harvest Goddess when she first arrives in Mineral Town? What if it takes a certain priest to make her see that she does truly exist? And will Claire and Carter's beliefs BOTH be put to the test?**

**Disclaimer: Short and simple: Harvest Moon is a video game series that...not surprisingly doesn't belong to me in any shape or form. If I did own it, then there would be MAJOR CHANGES.**

_**/.../.../.../**_

_~Believe~_

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_._

Not everyone believes in the same thing. In this world, it's only natural for people to have different opinions about certain topics. Not many can fully become used to this, and see that it's nothing to get angry about. If you can't change that person's thoughts about it, then you just can't. Simple as that. Don't waste your time trying to aimlessly change that person's mind, even though you put a lot of hard work into it.

This was what Carter believed, at least.

Carter lived in Mineral Town, and was a priest at it's church. He strongly had faith in the powerful Harvest Goddess, a beautiful woman who was said to be in control of everything. To him, she was the whole reason that this world existed. Without her, there would be no world. And, he wanted to spread these beliefs over to everyone in Mineral Town, for he knew it to be true.

Carter never encountered problems with convincing others that the Harvest Goddess existed. Not once had he come across a lost soul whom disagreed on his belief. Never.

But this all changed one day. As fate would have it, that one young girl stepped into the church and she completely made him attempt to rethink all that he had faith in of the Goddess. This young girl challenged everything, causing a big disagreement between them.

Just who was right though? Did the Harvest Goddess even exist? Was there even a real god or goddess to believe in?

_**/.../.../.../**_

Everything started out to be a peaceful day. At exactly ten AM, a man walked into the church and glanced around with a slight smile across his friendly features. He eyed the building, feeling grateful for it's existence at all.

He was feeling much better now that many people living in Mineral Town have been dropping by sometimes, just to hear a little about the Harvest Goddess and how she has blessed their world. It was a good feeling. Very nice to be positive that many were once again believing.

With gloom, he had heard about many other cities and towns, many of whom have never heard of such a goddess. They did not put their faith in anything, all atheists. Carter didn't want Mineral Town to fall unto this kind of state. He wanted to spread the knowledge of the HG to everyone. Especially since, if his speculations were accurate, it was rumored that the goddess herself lived in a pond somewhere in town!

_I wonder if anyone will stop by. It would be really good, but I need to once again dust the floors._ Carter wondered, walking along the rows of seats up to his stand.

No activity was kind of dull and boring. Carter didn't get out much, and he lived in the church anyway in a back room. You would, perhaps, assume that he could leave often since only two or three people drop by several times a week for sermons. Most of the other Believers only stop by for the confessional services.

Not like there was a problem with them sucking up their egos and confessing! It was just a little disappointing that nobody would fully listen to his sermons. One thing that bothered him the most though, was the fact that he never had many problems convincing people the existence of the goddess. He sometimes wished that there was one tough person, to really put his abilities to the test.

And his fate was sealed. He got his wish. The minute he heard the church doors open.

"Hi, Carter! I came by for a visit!"

Carter realized immediately who this visitor was. It was definitely Popuri, the daughter of Rod and Lillia. She was a sweet young woman sometimes, but she was very girly and could act just a little snobby. She also didn't really act her age, but Carter didn't mind this. In fact, he liked it when she would visit. The girl didn't fully understand about why the church was there, and why they needed to have knowledge of the HG's existence. But she still listened curiously to everything he would tell her about the goddess and her power.

With a friendly smile, Carter turned around to get a good look at this visitor. Yes, it was no doubt Popuri. The girl had long, curly pink hair held back with a green hairband, dark eyes, ans fair skin. She wore a simple red dress and her usual cheerful, absentminded smile. Carter briefly questioned if she even used her mind much, what with being so quick to change topics and sometimes forget what she had previously was going to do.

However, it was not only Popuri. There was another girl, probably her age, standing beside her and admiring the church's design and layout. A curious expression crossed over Carter's face as he realized; he hadn't seen the girl in town before. Maybe she just moved here? Yes, that could be it. Oh well, this meant that he would have another person to influence with truthful beliefs.

The girl next to Popuri looked as if she might have been from the city. She had long, straight blond hair that rested at her shoulders, bright blue eyes, and her skin was kind of light as if she hadn't gotten all that much sun. She wore an orange shirt underneath some blue overalls. Honestly, she was actually kind of attractive. Carter couldn't help but silently admit that. But he shook his head to clear these sudden thoughts, she was only a stranger. Trying to pursue her would do no good, as with her looks, she'd have most of the men wrapped around her fingers in time.

"Hi Carter!" Popuri called out cheerfully, taking a hand and waving it. She giggled girlishly and gestured to the blond girl by her side. "I wanted to introduce you to a new person in town. After this though, I'll pick up that gift you were going to my mom for her birthday."

The mystery girl by Popuri's side met Carter's gaze and she nodded. "Yeah, what she just said."

Carter walked closer to the girls and exchanged introductions with them. In just a few minutes, he had found out some things about the mystery girl. For one thing: the girl's name was Claire.

From Claire's descriptions, he found out that she was born and raised in the city. But she grew bored with her life there, it was just the same thing everyday and it stressed her out. But she then found an ad to take over a 'beautiful farm' in Mineral Town. Excited, she had accepted and then came for a new start on life. Although the farm wasn't as beautiful as she read about, she explained that she would work very hard to get it going strong.

Carter was impressed by her determination. He honestly believed that she would be able to really succeed with that kind of attitude. And he even told her this. Although surprised by his kind words, Claire managed to smile and thank him.

Popuri was surprised from seeing the exchange between Carter and Claire. Even though she just met the latter a little while ago, she had bonded with her immediately at first encounter. And the blond city girl had informed her that she hadn't ever been able to smile genuinely for other people. When questioning her, the pink-haired bubbly girl had found out that she had a hard time really trusting others. Only when she could truly trust in someone, did she smile for real. Most of her smiles had no actual emotion in them.

But Carter had this odd affect on people, Popuri concluded, it was like he was just naturally a trustworthy person. Perhaps he could even convince Claire to believe in the Harvest Goddess while he was on a roll! Hmm...this was a fleeting funny thought for her. Popuri silently giggled to herself, but then immediately put that to a halt when Carter asked Claire if she knew of the goddess.

These were Carter's words exactly: "There's no doubt that you'll be able to make a success out of your farm, Claire. I think it would help if you gave an offering to the Harvest Goddess and ask her to help you...wait, do you know about the goddess at all?" And Claire, confused by this, blinked for a total of ten times.

"...Goddess?" Claire repeated, raising a brow.

Sensing Claire's confusion, Carter took this as a chance to make another person believe in the goddess. The more he could get to believe in something absolutely true, the better. "Yes...the Harvest Goddess. She's the reason for our existence, and she blesses the land. Without her, well, I couldn't imagine what would happen to Mineral Town!"

Popuri frowned a little, not liking where this was going. She stood on the sidelines, debating whether or not to step in.

"This sounds like some type of religion to me. I don't want to have to say this in a _church_ of all places Carter, but this 'goddess' you're talking about sounds kind of like a myth." Claire remarked, seeming kind of hesitant to say all this. When she looked back up from the red rug underneath her, she could see Carter and Popuri's surprised expressions.

"Claire!" Popuri scolded. She put her hands on her hips and sent her new friend a sharp look that she didn't normally give anyone...except her brother, Rick, when he interrupted her and Kai's dates. "Stop saying all of that! She isn't a myth at all; Carter said so!"

Claire just sent Popuri an equally sharp look. "Well, just because he says this doesn't make it true. Come on Popuri, examine this more deeply, it sounds like a stupid myth. Everyone knows that there's no _true_ god or goddess out there anyway..."

Oh, things were getting way too out of hand. In order to try and settle things, Carter got in between the two girls and put a hand on one of their shoulders to restrain them back.

"Popuri! Claire! That's enough, we shouldn't get into a fistfight inside the church!" Carter's tone was sounding serious now, and it really wasn't like him. But he had to stop these two now. Honestly though, he had to agree with Popuri being angry about Claire's words.

"But Carter...!" Popuri whined, pulling herself out of his grasp. "Tell her that the goddess does exist! I know she does because I've visited the spring with Ann a few weeks ago and when we threw offerings of moondrop flowers into the water, we really _saw_ her!"

Ugh, this was one thing about Popuri that annoyed Carter. She was not a little child anymore, she was at least old enough to be legally married, and she acted like one. It was hard to stay calm and cool around her, because anything at all you could say made her fussy.

_Claire must be an atheist. That's the only explanation I can come up with for her opinions on the goddess. So, now that I figured this out, how am I supposed to convert her? It's kind of hard to admit, but I've never dealt with one before; I'm not sure how I can get her to change her thoughts..._

"Claire, are you saying that you don't believe in any kind of god?" Carter asked, holding back Popuri while Claire stood by one of the seats, rubbing her shoulder from where he had grabbed it. "It's okay if you don't, it won't offend me or anything, but I need to know for certain things."

"...Yeah. I don't believe in them. Why should I?" Claire shrugged her shoulders. "You can't prove that there's a true god out there, and all of these 'gods' and 'goddesses' you come up with are fake. Look, I need to get going and meet the other townspeople, I don't have time for a religious lecture..."

Claire sighed in a bored manner and avoided Carter and Popuri's eyes as she started to walk down to the front doors of the church. Even though she truly didn't believe in any kind of god, she felt guilty for saying all of this in a church. It didn't feel right, and she tried to leave as quickly as possible without looking like a coward.

But then a hand grabbed her shoulder once again, preventing her from making her leave. Against her will, Claire was turned around, and she instantly found herself staring at Carter. When she glanced to the side of him, she could make out Popuri huffing in anger and folding her arms over her chest for emphasis.

"What are you doing?" Claire blurted out. "I don't have the time to stay here in a place that I don't even need to be in, and there's so many more townspeople I have to meet before I go off to mine-"

"Just stay here for a minute. I can't let you leave without at least being convinced that the Harvest Goddess does exist. Claire, I have evidence."

Popuri decided to chime in at this. She jumped over by Carter's side and smiled broadly. "Yes! He's going to use me and Ann's encounter with the goddess as an example!"

"Popuri, can you go over there and sit down quietly? This is between me and Claire."

Popuri felt really offended by his words. But, she was causing too much of a scene now that she gave it some thought, and it wasn't like she was of any help. Grudgingly, she sulked over to a nearby seat and sat down delicately.

Carter shook his head at Popuri's childish act and then looked back over at Claire, feeling her gaze almost burning through him. He knew she didn't want to have to be here, but he had to at least _try_ to convince her of the goddess's existence that he never doubted. Now, how would he be able to put this to an atheist like her?

"Now Claire, we don't really need actual evidence of her existence, you know? Sometimes, when you have enough faith and try to be open to-" Carter began, but was almost immediately cut off by Claire's scoff.

"I can't believe in something that has no actual proof it exists!"

"-If you try to just not think about getting 'proof', eventually, you will begin to feel the goddess's existence..."

Claire interrupted his explanation once again. But this time, she bluntly remarked that he was no making no sense whatsoever. So, Carter thought for a moment to try and think of another way to put this. Another example came to mind and he begun to explain it to her.

"You know, there's also many old legends about the goddess, recorded in very trustworthy books at the town's library. Although they may not seem true at first, they actually are. Because I have done some good research about the events in the legends; they turned out to be accurate-"

"Ugh, not 'old legends' again! I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but those legends aren't true at all! You can't always believe what you find in a book..."

Popuri couldn't believe what she was hearing. From where she was sitting, she turned her head a little and could only stare in shock at all of this. What bothered her the most was...Claire didn't understand that everything Carter was telling her was the truth. Or...was it? Wait, it had to be the truth!

Carter could be a really patient person. But his patience was wearing out as he tried to come with another way to make Claire believe that the goddess was real. After careful consideration, he decided to just go and interpret it another way.

"Claire...I'm getting the feeling that you think we must have proof of the goddess in order to truly believe in her."

Claire nodded and crossed her arms. "Yes. That's what I'm saying. Of course, I still don't think any god or goddess exists. You need proof. Solid proof. But if you can't find any, if you can't interpret in way that shows she exists, if you can't come up with anything at all such as these two things, well then you're believing in something that DOESN'T exist."

Carter and Popuri stared with slightly widened eyes for an unhealthy amount of time. And Claire still felt awfully ashamed of herself for saying all of this in a church and in front of two people who strictly believed in this 'goddess'. It didn't seem like she ever would change her mind. That she would forever be lost. Because in her mind, it all seemed like a stupid little cult. And everyone in town were followers of this fake religion. But they didn't realize.

"In the city, there are many superior scientists that everyday conclude that there's no such thing as gods or goddesses. And that we all shouldn't get mixed up in believing some stupid, false religion. I think like them. And...in my heart, I believe they're right. We may never truly know how we've come to be and everything, but they work their asses off to try and provide solid proof of that." Claire raised her head up and eyed a glass picture of what the HG might look like in the church's window, glittering from the streaming sunlight. "Besides, this 'Harvest Goddess' sounds far too unrealistic for me to believe. I will be able to work my farm and make it a success without her 'blessings', and I will be able to have a good life without devoting myself to a stupid cult that worships something nonexistent. That's all I have to say."

With a head toss, Claire started walking off past a stunned Popuri who had left her seat and was standing on the side of the red rug covering the floor. Just she she past the pink-haired girl though, she gave her a chuckle.

"And your 'encounter' with the Harvest Goddess sounds so fake as well, Popuri. Grow up, will you? I also don't mean to say this, but I can't be friends with someone who still believes in false fairytales like her."

"You...! Claire...!" Popuri snapped indignantly. She clenched her hands into fists and started yelling at Claire. But the young blond girl just ignored them with a frown creeping up to her face.

Carter, however, walked forward and put a hand on Popuri's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. But it was futile. Popuri was such a mess after hearing all of that stuff Claire said. And also...that her friendship was short-lived.

Claire didn't take a second glance back at the two. Somewhere in her heart, she knew she shouldn't have stated all that in a church and in front of two people who seriously worshiped the goddess. But she couldn't bear to stay there any longer and apologize. There was no need to. She didn't need to be converted to a fake god like that. She would live life her own way and not fall into the deep depths of deception like all of them had.

"...Your goddess is all a lie." Claire softly murmured as she placed a hand on the church door's handle. "If you don't believe me, then that's your problem, Carter and Popuri."

With that said, Claire opened the doors and walked out on them both. Sunlight streamed in brightly and then faded almost in an instant as the large doors closed back with a loud sound.

A flabbergasted Popuri just stared at the doors, almost gaping. But she composed herself. She jerked herself out of Carter's hold and gave him a cold look. "Claire's the one that has a problem! Carter, she was wrong, right? The-the Harvest Goddess DOES exist, right?"

"...I don't know, Popuri." Popuri's eyes widened as she heard that. And Carter sighed but then gave her a fake reassuring smile. "Just...maybe you should go back to your home and help Lilia and Rick with the store. I need to be alone for a little while and sort some things out."

"But Carter-"

"Please, just go home."

Popuri's face fell in an instant. She sadly nodded, and walked off wordlessly to the doors. When she made it to the doors, she apologized in a heartfelt manner for even bringing Claire by to meet him, but he brushed it off a little too quickly and said that she wasn't the one that needed to give an apology. And that it was okay that they couldn't convert the city girl. Although curious about what he meant, Popuri didn't ask questions. She walked out of the church and made her way back to the Poultry Farm.

Still in deep thought over what Claire stated about the Harvest Goddess, he walked into the confessional room to think.

Once entering the confessional, he closed the door back softly and locked it behind him so no one visiting could disturb him. Now that he was all alone in the dark room, he didn't really need any light. He had been in that room so many times that he could make out everything that was inside without having light to help him.

_All those things Claire said...could they really be true? Is the goddess actually real? I've never come across anyone as stubborn as her. I don't think she'll ever believe._ Carter's mind was just going crazy, trying register all of what happened in just a short amount of time. That one encounter with Claire just changed everything for him. He felt like he was beginning to lose some faith in the Harvest Goddess. Because, now that he pondered it hard, he realized that he didn't have much 'proof' she existed. He had just always assumed from those legends that she did exist. _For some reason, I think I may have been wrong about the goddess. These thoughts...I wish that I could shake them off, but it isn't working. I don't have any real proof that she truly exists...and I feel lost now._

His mind still racing and a state of complete confusion overwhelming him, Carter raised his head up and looked through the darkness at a painting on the wall. The painting portrayed the Harvest Goddess as a a young woman with long braided hair to her waist, wearing a tight and revealing long pale blue dress. The artist of this painting didn't know what the goddess looked like of course, but Carter had been told by him that he painted it of what he assumed her to look like.

"I'm not sure if I can continue to live this way...without any answers to my own questions." Carter got up and walked over to where he knew the painting was at. "Do you really exist or not?"

The pastor knew that he wouldn't get an answer. Not from a painting at least. He shook his head and walked over to the light switch. He flicked on the light and once it lit the small confessional room up, he unlocked the door and left the room without another word.

If Carter had stayed in that room a little bit longer, he would have seen the painting suddenly slip off the wall and fall to the floor. Somewhere, in another part of Mineral Town, there was a green-haired woman looking almost exactly of the one in the painting standing over the water in the goddess spring and sadly staring at the sky.

_**/.../.../.../**_

Carter never did receive his answer. He went on with life as a pastor at the church still. But it didn't feel right as it used to. Even though he vowed that he'd never let one mere person destroy his faith in the Harvest Goddess.

Sometimes, we really don't know what to believe in. And even when one does make a decision, there's always that one tough question that in the back of the mind...

Is there really a god or goddess to believe in?

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_~End~_

_**/.../.../.../**_

**So, what did you think?**

**I know that this was really rushed and kind of unnecessary. I didn't even feel like posting it at first. But I decided: "Eh, why not?" and just went ahead and posted it. I want to know your thoughts about it nevertheless. It's been a while since I've written something serious. And this would be the first time I've written something with a religious theme behind it.**

**Oh and before you ask questions, no. I do not really agree with Claire's thoughts about the whole matter. I just know that she's the silent main character who never talks. There's no telling WHAT goes through her head. And there's endless ways to portray Claire, which makes writing her very fun and interesting.**

**The next time I write a Harvest Moon fic, I'm planning something a little longer. Like, maybe a three-shot or something...?**

**Read and review!**


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